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A suicide prevention charity helpline experienced its “busiest day ever” after troubled Coronation Street character Aidan Connor killed himself, prompting a flood of requests for help from young people.

The storyline - which saw Aidan, played by Shayne Ward, take his own life off-screen after he reunited with his former fiance Eva Price - also prompted people to share their own experiences of depression and suicide on social media, while others said it had prompted them to talk to friends and family.

Papyrus, a charity which tackles suicide in young people, said staff on its HopeLineUK service “worked relentlessly, without taking a break” to cope with the surge in demand.

Meanwhile The Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) said that following the airing of the harrowing episodes on Monday and Wednesday evenings, it took on extra staff to cope with demand on its helpline and webchat.

Following the airing of the episodes, Papyrus chief executive Ged Flynn said the charity took “three times as many calls as a routine day”.

Mr Flynn praised the soap, and Ward, for the “sensitive and brave handling” of the storyline, and said it undoubtedly prompted people to come forward and ask for help.

He said: “There is strong evidence that says when something like suicide affects a cherished person perhaps in the public eye, it encourages others to seek help – and we’ve certainly seen that here.

“Our advisers were in all day and they worked relentlessly – none of them took a break due to the sheer number of people phoning up, texting, leaving voicemails, asking for help.

“I think the storyline – the way it was sensitively handled without being sensationalised – the way Aidan’s character was portrayed on screen, and the subsequent coverage in the media clearly affected a lot of people.

“If people have seen it happen to a popular person, in this case a soap character, it really relates to people and makes them think: ‘It can happen to me, too’.